Right, but which balls make it through and which don't isn't random -- that's decided by the holes. It is tricky though. I guess it depends on what you consider

Right, but which balls make it through and which don't isn't random -- that's decided by the holes. It is tricky though. I guess it depends on what you consider to be within the system and outside of it. In this example you have randomly generated the holes, whereas I don't think there's anything random about what it means for something to be dead or alive. For example, we might say that children born with fatal/harmful defects are "unlucky," which is true, but this is a short-term perspective. Over larger timescales, we can say (poetically) that the rarity of these particular kinds of DNA configurations is a "design choice" rendered by the laws of nature. The larger the time scale, the less meaningful individual "chance" things are and the more "systemic" factors come into play. This is probably an instance of "the law of large numbers". -- Another important thing to point out is that the environment is dynamic and species interact with eachother in all sorts of ways. The concept of a single species evolving in vacuo is very dry, but the reality is different. Throw a few different species into the mix and suddenly you have an explosion in the kinds of behavior and phenomena you will find. I think intelligence is one of those phenomena. In other words, the natural world has all the depth and richness necessary to account for the "enlightened" properties that you attribute to life. In fact, if I had to pick one gripe I have with religion, it would be that it blinds people as to the raw amazingness and beauty that can be found in the natural world.